Journal Sentinel rushes in to help confused, ignorant voters

Update to the story below...

Oh, my God, it's serious, get me Legal!

Madison - The Journal Sentinel sent a "cease and desist" letter to the campaign of state Supreme Court candidate Linda Clifford over automated phone calls this afternoon, but the campaign said it had already stopped making the calls.

Paul Bargren, a lawyer for the paper, said in his letter that the calls misled voters into thinking they were made by the newspaper.

Clifford campaign manager Nicholl Caruso said the calls were not intended to trick voters and noted they said at the end they were paid for by the campaign. She said the campaign calls ended shortly after 3 p.m., more than an hour before the campaign received the letter.

"We followed all the rules," Caruso said. "We were very proud of the Journal Sentinel endorsement and we wanted readers to know about it. There's no inaccurate information in this call at all."

The Journal Sentinel sent the letter after receiving calls from people who said they thought the calls came from the paper."We understand the First Amendment right of free speech," Editor Martin Kaiser said. "However, the Journal Sentinel cannot stand by while its readers are confused and misled by political telephone calls that undermine the newspaper's integrity and independence."

"Any calls that mention the newspaper's editorial page endorsement should let callers know immediately and clearly that the calls are coming from the political campaign and not from the newspaper."

Forgive me, but isn't Marty's the one who's confused? Or doesn't he know about the new rules for corporate media?

Hasn’t he been introduced to one of the premier pieces of property owned by the Journal Sentinel’s corporate parent?

Can the Linda Clifford Campaign file a cease and desist order against WTMJ for CharliesSykesJessicaMcBrideJeffWagner?

Or is there no confusion on that side of the journalistic divide?

Seriously, isn’t this breathtaking? When was the last time a major media outlet launched a lawyered-up attack on a political candidate for misleading the public inside its news space with less than 24 hours before voting? (Media that's not Fox News, that is.)

This election could be close...what if this cease and desist order swings it?

Does Steve Walters have a non-Ziegler partisan to quote for this story?

Will the “real journalists” be discussing this at the Wisconsin Blog Summit?

Update:

Bill Christofferson says this affair is a case of internecine warfare between the news and editorial divisions.

James Wigderson wonders if the newspaper’s management expected the Linda Clifford Campaign would would just keep quiet about the endorsement. He also uncovers a consensus among the local UWM graduates on this story.

Tim Rock slaps down Patrick McIlheran’s “coverage.”

Daniel Cody notes that this is a classic example of a media outlet making up their own news.

Today’s follow-up article sheds no light on how many people actually thought the newspaper was making the calls. I sent an e-mail to reporter Patrick Marley requesting this information.